What to do if you're being sexually harassed at work

I know one of them. I’m sure you do, too. The women who put up with sexual harassment at work.

While celebrities rally together, singing from the hills of Hollywood and their supporters cheer from the Twitterverse, so many women across Australia are still living a workplace nightmare and have no idea what to do about it. They deal with their own Harvey Weinstein or Don Burke every bloody day.

But where do they begin the fight? Literally.

In 2016, American TV presenter Gretchen Carlson took down Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes with a sexual harassment claim that settled for a reported $20 million.

Gretchen Carlson took a stand against Roger Ailes. (Image: AAP)

I reached out to her to ask about how this issue impacts women across the world on a day-to-day basis and I was sent this very honest reply:

"You can be sexually harassed if you’re pretty or not pretty, if you’re strong or not strong, if you’re in advertising or trucking. You can be harassed if you’re wearing a short skirt or army fatigues or hospital scrubs. It’s in the culture.”

That culture transcends workplaces across the globe.

WATCH: How the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinsten emboldened women all over the world to share their experiences.

Here in Australia, one in four women are sexually harassed at work according to the Australian Human Rights Commission (2012).

"Nearly one third of people who made a formal complaint about workplace sexual harassment said they suffered significant consequences as a result, such as being labelled a troublemaker, being ostracised, victimised or ignored by colleagues”.

But it’s a culture that’s no longer tolerated.

One in four Australian women are sexually harassed at work. (Image: Getty)

In the past 18 months this path has been signposted with bright red flags and traffic cones. Before now, this route was only for bush-bashers, the path hidden in the middle of the scrub with barely a footprint carved in the track.

If you know someone who needs directions, for heaven’s sake, share it with them. One in four, remember?

Here’s where to start:

1. Talk to a lawyer or external body. Sometimes HR isn’t always the best place to file your report because of in-house relationships.

Kate Jenkins recommends “making a complaint to an external complaint handling body such as the AHRC or state anti-discrimination commissions. The AHRC will investigate the complaint. It will try to resolve the complaint through a process of conciliation”.

LISTEN: How we can all contribute to a better culture for women in the workplace - and elsewhere.

“Keep a journal and take it home with you every night. Send yourself copies of emails to an outside email. A lot of women that reached out to me, they had been documenting. Then when they got fired, when they had the courage to come forward, they couldn’t go back to their office and so they could never get their stuff”.

3. Tell someone. In fact, Carlson says tell two people and make one of them male.

“Under the Sex Discrimination Act any form of unwanted, unwelcome sexual advance or behaviour, request for sex, or any conduct of a sexual nature which impacts a person in circumstances where there is a reasonable expectation that the behaviour would lead to the person affected being offended, humiliated or intimidated is unlawful," she explains.

"Women are dealing with their own Harvey Weinstein or Don Burke every bloody day." (Images: AAP)

The buck doesn’t stop with the victim or perpetrator. A lot lies with the man in the middle, so to speak.

“As senior professional women we need to watch out for this sort of thing and call it out when we see it,” McHattan says.

“We need to ensure our senior men do the same too. We all need to be brave about this, speak out and stand up for each other”.

It took Gretchen Carlson a long time to speak up. She’s often asked: why?

“I was fiercely trying to hold onto a career I’d built over 25 years. I’ve spent my whole life working. In situations like this, you keep thinking it will change. You put your nose to the ground at great personal sacrifice," she says.

"Women often feel like they can fix these kinds of situations. And we’re afraid we will be labeled troublemakers or bitches, and that nobody will believe us. It takes immense courage to go up against powerful people”.

Indeed.

But before immense courage comes really good forward-planning.

Early next year the Australian Human Rights Commission will conduct its fourth survey into workplace sexual harassment.